Albion 0 Hull 3 - analysis

Suddenly, the next week is looking like a pretty big deal for Albion.

Ten days ago the return to the Premier League ranks was going very nicely, thank you.

Yet, 180 minutes and seven unanswered goals later, life in the top flight is looking decidedly less comfortable for Tony Mowbray's men.

To make matters worse, their second heavy beating in a week came at the hands of a bunch of brash upstarts who are making the transition from the Championship look like a stroll in the park.

A fourth straight victory gave Hull a barely believable 24 hours at the top of the Premier League with their manager, Phil Brown, enjoying the greatest month of his career.

For Tony Mowbray, the task of transferring Championship dominance into respectability at the next level is, all of a sudden, looking more problematic.

The Baggies manager was looking on the bright side after his side extracted a comprehensive defeat from another encouraging start.

Mowbray will be under no illusions how big the next six days have become, thanks to back-to-back defeats against the might of Manchester United and the momentum of the Tigers.

No-one at The Hawthorns is eyeing the panic buttons just yet. But with Liverpool and Chelsea to come in successive matches in early November, Mowbray and his players will know that points are essential beforehand if they are to avoid a bright start to the season being knocked seriously off course.

Newcastle await tomorrow with Blackburn due at the Hawthorns on Saturday, before his side tackle the league's current top two.

While there was again lots to admire from his team before Saturday's match headed downhill fast, Mowbray has some serious problems to solve and not much time to do it.

Having appeared to find their feet in a new division with wins against the established forces of Middlesbrough and Fulham, his side have lost their heads in successive Saturdays to undo at least some of their previous solid work.

Going a little 'gaga' in the face of the massed powers of Manchester United might have been expected. Repeating the errors against Hull, despite their unexpected rise to the summit of the table, was much harder to take.

The opposition might have been very different but Saturday's clash with the Tigers followed a pattern depressingly similar to the meeting with the champions seven days earlier. Albion did well in the first half as they had, in relative terms, at Old Trafford.

Once again they went behind early in the second half and, once again, a subsequent loss of composure ensured the match was over in double-quick time.

On each occasion, the Baggies reacted so badly to falling behind that second and third goals followed before they had given themselves chance to take stock.

Mowbray will know ensuring his troops deal better with moments of adversity will be key to their ability to recovery from the setbacks of the last week-and-a-half.

There is little doubt they will go behind again in the not-too-distant future. When it happens the temptation to chase an equaliser straight away must be resisted.

Then there is Mowbray's other big headache. For all their pleasing play and talented footballers, they have managed just five goals from open play in nine matches.

Roman Bednar is the only forward to find the target and, with the exception of the clash with United, chances have been created and squandered with alarming frequency.

The failure to enlist added firepower was the one glaring omission from the list of summer signings and, despite the defensive mishaps of the last two matches, the lack of goals still looks to be the manager's biggest worry.

Had Bednar, Jonas Olsson or the terminally frustrating Ishmael Miller been more ruthless, Hull's unbelievable start to the season would have been derailed long before the half-time whistle.

It was Mowbray's men who spent the majority of the opening period in charge, with their impressive midfield quartet probing with skill and subtlety and the young back four giving few warnings of the mishaps that were to follow.

There were only 10 minutes on the clock when the Baggies should have gone ahead. Borja Valero's shot was saved by Boaz Myhill but the keeper was still grounded when Olsson connected with a header that should have provided the opening goal.

Instead he hit the woodwork and Bednar could not force home the equaliser. Miller powered through the Hull defence and found himself in the clear only for Myhill to produce a fine save to keep out his shot.

On the stroke of half-time Bednar volleyed over from a corner, when he would have expected to find the target.

The Baggies began to pay the price for their profligacy just two minutes into the second half, despite a brilliant reaction save from Scott Carson. From the corner, Kamil Zayette stole half a yard on Paul Robinson and fired the Tigers into the lead.

Myhill produced more heroics to deny first Gianni Zuiverloon and then James Morrison while Miller twice got himself into good shooting positions but twice failed to hit the target.

With Albion taking chances in the hunt for a goal, they were hit twice on the break in the space of five minutes as their hopes vanished. Zuiverloon was slow to step up, playing Marlon King onside to feed Geovanni for the second.

The Dutchman's poor second half continued when his miscued header set up King to complete the scoring.

The final whistle could not come soon enough for a shellshocked Albion, who left the stage looking baffled by the events of the second half. For Hull it was quite possibly the zenith of their history and the impressive travelling support was not about to let the moment pass.

"Don't want to go home," was the song that rang out as they refused to leave the Smethwick End. "This is the best trip I've ever been on."

Tougher roads doubtless await along the Tigers' fairytale journey. For Albion, the season has reached its first crossroads.